Who is the best female figure skater in the world?

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Lets see, she does only 4 type of triples while Ito did 6 and Kwan did 5 and practiced 6. She has issues with toe point, leg line, extension, while Kwan and Lynn were perfect skaters in a stylistic sense, and skated from their heart and created magic much more easily with their skating than Yu Na did. You do the math.

Kim has had harder Olympic performances, technically speaking, and was arguably the most consistent of these skaters, especially considering the content she's had to do under CoP. To say that she's a "big level" below Kwan, Lynn and Ito, who have never skated well enough to win the Olympics (and Lynn having never even won Worlds) is quite ridiculous. If you want to talk about the *sport* of figure skating, Kim's ability to balance technical and artistic is much greater than Lynn's artistic contribution and lacklustre technical abilities. It would be like saying Kim is a big level below Lucinda Ruh because Lucinda's the best spinner of all time while Kim's spins are weak in comparison. Taking the overall attributes, Lynn is off the top 3 list for sure and replaced by Kim, IMO. Even Witt would place higher than Lynn.

Although you have unorthodox placements when it comes to skaters who you value higher than others... I mean, Sandy Lenz, come on.

If toe/leg point is keeping a skater from being an all-time great (as if Ito had extension and toe point herself), then you're welcome to continue rolling along with your Dick Button logic.

 

[dendrite]

For me there is Ito and then everyone else. She was no conventional artist, but there was amazing artistry in the physical audacity of her jumping and her speed. Watch her programs from 1989 and marvel that 25 years have passed and no one has matched her athleticism

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Kim has had harder Olympic performances, technically speaking, and was arguably the most consistent of these skaters, especially considering the content she's had to do under CoP. To say that she's a "big level" below Kwan, Lynn and Ito, who have never skated well enough to win the Olympics (and Lynn having never even won Worlds) is quite ridiculous. If you want to talk about the *sport* of figure skating, Kim's ability to balance technical and artistic is much greater than Lynn's artistic contribution and lacklustre technical abilities. It would be like saying Kim is a big level below Lucinda Ruh because Lucinda's the best spinner of all time while Kim's spins are weak in comparison. Taking the overall attributes, Lynn is off the top 3 list for sure and replaced by Kim, IMO. Even Witt would place higher than Lynn.

It's hard between Kwan and Yuna because under 6.0 judges were obsessed with 7 triple programs. Now you can win a WC without a lutz if you do other things well, which would never happen under 6.0 (after 1990). However, I think if Yuna needed to do 3Lo's to win consistently she would have it in her programs.

 

[tictochyun]

My favorite female skater is Yuna Kim. I heard that she also has been training with ballet. She seems like a prima ballerina on the ice. Commentators and other skaters also agree with this point. She is a whole package of technique and artistry. And above all, her triple-triple is huge and she jumps perfectly in the aspect of edge, height, speed, posture and soft landing. You might agree with me if you have watched Yuna's performances.

 

[Ophelia]

I don't know if Yuna has that extensive of a ballet background. I feel like she did, her flexibility, spiral, and spins would be much better.

 

[usethis2]

Amid all these talks about skating skills and qualities, we should not forget that Yuna is also the only skater (in how long?) who actually delivered in Olympic games as the favorite. TWICE.

The tale of the favorites losing in the Olympic figure skating ended with Yuna Kim. I still have no idea how she could pull them off - her choreos are notoriously delicate. And I even accept her refusal to point her toes. lol. The Queen knows better and can have it her own ways.

 

[hurrah]

Yuna is to me one of the two best competitors the sport has ever seen, the other one being Katarina Witt.

I would put Yuna up there as one of the great figure skaters, but not THE best overall figure skater. The best figure skater the sport has thus seen is Mao Asada, and I hope the sport will one day learn to give her her dues.

 

[minze]

Yuna is to me one of the two best competitors the sport has ever seen, the other one being Katarina Witt.

I would put Yuna up there as one of the great figure skaters, but not THE best overall figure skater. The best figure skater the sport has thus seen is Mao Asada, and I hope the sport will one day learn to give her her dues.

As long as her fans see her greatness, that is all that matters.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Kwan, Lynn and Ito, who have never skated well enough to win the Olympics

They all skated well enough to win the Olympics. Including at Olympics they competed in.

 

[millie]

Katarina Witt was not only a great skater but also she was an entertainer. When she, skated she would mesmerize the audience. One of my favorite all time skaters, also she had a personality to go with the beautiful skating.

 

[longjiajia811]

de facto ,there is no best all over,only best in some way.

 

[Hamil]

Me too.
Yuna is already a legend and Adelina Sotnikova who uses two foot landing and wrong edge is no match for her.

Don't forget under-rotations. And she got the second highest point in the skating history after Yuna's 2010 Olympic.
And she has no history of winning in any competitions. It takes skaters years to build up their reputation for PCS. Furthermore it's just her second year as a senior skater.
All evidences points in one direction.
And somebody became a laughingstock..... Oh and her nation as well.

 

[vfvh]

Don't forget under-rotations. And she got the second highest point in the skating history after Yuna's 2010 Olympic.
And she has no history of winning in any competitions. It takes skaters years to build up their reputation for PCS. Furthermore it's just her second year as a senior skater.
All evidences points in one direction.
And somebody became a laughingstock..... Oh and her nation as well.

I totally agree with you.
lol What a questionable point!!!

 

[junesong2]

Mao Asada is definitely one for the great skaters of this era but not best ever IMHO. Simply put, she is just too inconsistent to be considered as THE best.

I think Yuna is THE ONE.

 

[Ophelia]

Yuna is to me one of the two best competitors the sport has ever seen, the other one being Katarina Witt.

I would put Yuna up there as one of the great figure skaters, but not THE best overall figure skater. The best figure skater the sport has thus seen is Mao Asada, and I hope the sport will one day learn to give her her dues.

Doesn't Mao have an iffy jump technique?

 

[pangtongfan]

Kim has had harder Olympic performances, technically speaking, and was arguably the most consistent of these skaters, especially considering the content she's had to do under CoP. To say that she's a "big level" below Kwan, Lynn and Ito, who have never skated well enough to win the Olympics (and Lynn having never even won Worlds) is quite ridiculous.

Kwan did skate well enough to win the Olympics in 98. Her performances there would have won any other Olympics but that one, but unlucky for her Tara also skated lights out that night. Ito meanwhile blew the field away at the 88 Olympics, and Lynn likewise in 72, but unfortunately due to something called compulsory figures had no real chance of winning.

As for harder content Kwan did 7 triples in 98. Had Kim done 7 triples in 2014 as the more daring Kwan in 98 did, even with the ridiculously biased judging, she probably would have won. Ito did a clean triple axel in her 92 free skate and tried it twice, and also did the 7 triples Kim was unwilling to try all these years later at the 88 Olympics. You cant realistically compare skaters from 72 in difficulty to today so even attempting to compare Lynn straight up in technical difficulty is ridiculous.

If you want to talk about the *sport* of figure skating, Kim's ability to balance technical and artistic is much greater than Lynn's artistic contribution and lacklustre technical abilities. It would be like saying Kim is a big level below Lucinda Ruh because Lucinda's the best spinner of all time while Kim's spins are weak in comparison. Taking the overall attributes, Lynn is off the top 3 list for sure and replaced by Kim, IMO. Even Witt would place higher than Lynn.

There is just so much wrong here I dont even know where to start. First off Janet Lynn was NOT lacklustre technically in any way, shape, or form. Any skater of that era who all revered Janet and her abilities would be mortified to here someone even suggest that. You seem to be ill informed on the standard of tehcnical skating at that time. Janet Lynn for her own time was technically one of the very best free skaters and jumpers, and arguably the best. The great Karen Magnussen, the 2nd best free skater of that era behind Lynn, and more athletic than artistic (although good in both) even called Janet the best jumper of that era. She had a huge double axel, double axel combinations, and all the double jumps which is all anyone did then. She did triples in practice easily, but never needed them in competition as she always easily won the free skating without them; and none of her competitors did them except the young German Sonja Morgenstram in 72.

Calling Witt a better "skater" than Lynn is blasphemy. Even Witt herself would laugh if told that she was a better skater than Lynn. Witt is a great champion great skar, and had a great competitor of course, but in pure skating someone like Lynn is light years ahead of her.

You put WAY too much emphasis on career achievements and not enough on ones ability to actually skate. As the proposterous womens results from the Sochi Games again showed competitive results given by judges and an often corrupt system in skating cant be trusted or too heavily regarded. If we went just by results Sjouke Dijkstra (I know many are thinking now, who??? to which I reply exactly) would be the 4th best skater ever behind Henie, Witt, and Heiss. Meanwhile even if all competitive results were fair they would still be a flawed barometer of how to determine the best skaters. Lysacek deserved his World and Olympic title but nobody would consider him a better skater than Buttle or even Weir who are less accomplished. Schuba deserved her World and Olympic titles over Lynn given the rules at the time but nobody would consider her a better skater. Ability is only one of the many variables that go into results and achievements.

Although you have unorthodox placements when it comes to skaters who you value higher than others... I mean, Sandy Lenz, come on.

While you are narrow minded and cant appreciate any skater who doesnt win lots of medals, even many times skaters who are only winning them either due to the flag on their backs, or their ability to just jump well or tick boxes that fit the rules but have no redeeming or memorable qualities otherwise. I mean who would any true skating fan rather watch, Sandy Lenz or the gold and bronze medalists from the 1980 Games- Poetzsch and Lurz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMSiL0eZtHk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmCsXHsUWxU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at7bdjBqo5w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQu6GVMGqOQ

 

[evangeline]

I have to agree with pangtongfan with regards to Janet Lynn's technical abilities. Lynn's figures were weak, but she was one of the strongest jumpers in her day. IIRC, she was one of the first ladies skaters to land the 3Lo and the 3S in an era when doubles were the norm.

Katarina Witt, on the other hand, was regularly out-jumped by her competitors like Liz Manley, Debi Thomas, Elaine Zayak and Midori Ito. Her basic skating was quite mediocre, and she had that horrible, pose-filled Jutta Mueller choreography. Moreover, Witt, like Lynn, was not good at figures but (unlike Lynn) she was regularly propped up on them by the judges when she competed.

 

[BounceAround]

^Were Janet's figures really weak though? Maybe Trixi Schuba was just on another level. It's amazing how two masters of two different aspects of the sport competed during the same era.

 

[Tonichelle]

Kristi Yamaguchi

 

[mary01]

Doesn't Mao have an iffy jump technique?

No thankfully she doesn't, beside all of Sato's student were all known for two things they all had in common their incredible skating skills and their perfect technique, so it's seems very unlikely that the same man would teach any iffy technique especially to an already 2-time World champion and Olympic silver medalist!

I would put Yuna up there as one of the great figure skaters, but not THE best overall figure skater. The best figure skater the sport has thus seen is Mao Asada, and I hope the sport will one day learn to give her her dues.

ITA